Lighting device for a motor vehicle headlight with a first optical component and second optical system

Abstract

A lighting device for a motor vehicle having a multiplicity of light sources from which light radiates in operation of the lighting device, an optical component that has at least one light entry surface for the light radiating from the light sources and at least one light exit surface for the light that has entered through the at least one light entry surface, as well as a secondary optical system that has at least one light entry surface for the light radiating from the at least one light exit surface of the optical component as well as at least one light exit surface for the light that has entered through the at least one light entry surface, wherein the light that has exited from the at least one light exit surface of the secondary optical system produces a light distribution outside the motor vehicle in operation of the lighting device.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A lighting device for a motor vehicle, the lighting device comprising:
 light sources from which light radiates in operation of the lighting device; 
 an optical component that has at least one light entry surface for the light radiating from the light sources as well as at least one light exit surface for the light that has entered through the at least one light entry surface; and 
 a secondary optical system that has at least one light entry surface for the light radiating from the at least one light exit surface of the optical component as well as at least one light exit surface for the light that has entered through the at least one light entry surface, the light that has exited from the at least one light exit surface of the secondary optical system producing a light distribution outside the motor vehicle in operation of the lighting device,
 wherein the lighting device is designed such that a vertical light/dark boundary is produced in the light distribution by switching the lighting device from a first state in which all of the light sources emit light into a second state in which a plurality of the light sources emit light and one or more of the light sources do not emit light, 
 wherein the light sources are arranged side by side in a first direction, 
 wherein on a light entry side of the optical component, the optical component has a recess that divides the light entry side of the optical component into a first light entry portion and a second light entry portion, such that, with respect to the first direction, the first light entry portion is spaced apart from the second light entry portion by the recess, and 
 wherein the light sources are arranged in a first group and a second group of light sources with the first group of light sources being associated with the first light entry portion of the optical component and the second group of light sources being associated with the second light entry portion of the optical component, such that the first group of light sources is spaced apart from the second group of light sources in the first direction. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The lighting device according to  claim 1 , wherein the light sources are light-emitting diodes. 
     
     
       3. The lighting device according to  claim 1 , wherein the optical component has at least one reflecting surface at which the light that has entered through the at least one light entry surface of the optical component is at least partially reflected toward the at least one light exit surface of the optical component. 
     
     
       4. The lighting device according to  claim 3 , wherein the at least one reflecting surface is designed such that the light that has entered through the at least one light entry surface of the optical component is reflected by total internal reflection. 
     
     
       5. The lighting device according to  claim 3 , wherein the at least one reflecting surface includes a plurality of reflecting surfaces, wherein each respective one of the plurality of reflecting surfaces is associated with a respective one of the light sources so that the light radiating from each respective one of the light sources is reflected from a respective one of the plurality of reflecting surfaces. 
     
     
       6. The lighting device according to  claim 5 , wherein the plurality of reflecting surfaces are arranged in a first group and a second group of reflecting surfaces, wherein the first and second groups are spaced apart from one another or spaced apart form one another in the first direction by the recess, with the first group of reflecting surfaces being provided in the first light entry portion of the optical component and the second group of reflecting surfaces being provided in the second light entry portion of the optical component. 
     
     
       7. The lighting device according to  claim 3 , wherein at least a portion of the plurality of reflecting surfaces are arranged side by side in the first direction. 
     
     
       8. The lighting device according to  claim 3 , wherein the at least one reflecting surface is curved or is concavely curved or is curved in two mutually perpendicular directions. 
     
     
       9. The lighting device according to  claim 3 , wherein the at least one light entry surface of the secondary optical system together with the at least one light exit surface of the optical component projects a plane, that passes through the optical component in a region of the at least one reflecting surface, onto a projection plane in which the light distribution is created in operation of the lighting device. 
     
     
       10. The lighting device according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one light entry surface of the secondary optical system is curved or is convexly curved or is designed with an aspheric curve, and wherein the at least one light exit surface of the secondary optical system is flat. 
     
     
       11. The lighting device according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one light exit surface of the optical component includes a first light exit surface and a second light exit surface that are arranged side by side in the first direction and/or wherein the at least one light entry surface of the secondary optical system includes a first light entry surface and a second light entry surface that are arranged side by side in the first direction. 
     
     
       12. The lighting device according to  claim 11 , wherein the optical component has at least one reflecting surface at which the light that has entered through the at least one light entry surface of the optical component is at least partially reflected toward the at least one light exit surface of the optical component, wherein the at least one reflecting surface includes a plurality of reflecting surfaces, wherein the plurality of reflecting surfaces are arranged in a first group and a second group of reflecting surfaces,
 wherein the first group of light sources, the first group of reflecting surfaces, the first light entry surface of the secondary optical system and the first light exit surface of the optical component forms a first optical channel, and wherein the second group of light sources, the second group of reflecting surfaces, the second light entry surface of the secondary optical system and the second light exit surface of the optical component forms a second optical channel. 
 
     
     
       13. The lighting device according to  claim 12 , wherein light of the first optical channel overlaps at least partially with light of the second optical channel in the light distribution. 
     
     
       14. The lighting device according to  claim 1 , wherein the lighting device is a headlight for the motor vehicle and the optical component is monolithic. 
     
     
       15. The lighting device according to  claim 1 , wherein the recess is devoid of light sources. 
     
     
       16. The lighting device according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one light entry surface of the secondary optical system includes a first light entry surface and a second light entry surface that are arranged side by side in the first direction. 
     
     
       17. The lighting device according to  claim 16 , wherein the first light entry surface of the secondary optical system faces in a direction towards the first light entry portion of the optical component and the second light entry surface of the secondary optical system faces in a direction towards the second light entry portion of the optical component, and wherein an optical axis of the first light entry surface of the secondary optical system extends so as to intersect one of the light sources in the first group of light sources and an optical axis of the second light entry surface of the secondary optical system extends between two of the light sources in the second group of light sources.